Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

Greetings Lanny,
How wonderful to see your post as it means You and Your Thread are alive and well and U are still finding that lovely yellow metal.
Thank you for the update and the post as you do so much to keep the 'fever' alive in those of us who can not get out to hunt just yet.
Continued Success to ya.....................63bkpkr

Good morning! Thanks for dropping in, and it's great to hear from you again. I miss your high-mountain tales of adventure and daring, and I can't wait until you get back out in the back-of-beyond to involve us in your gold-chasing adventures again.

Many thanks, and all the best,

Lanny

 

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[meMiner]

Lanny - I look forward to your stories this winter. I did not get out to BC this year, so will have to live through you.

Seascene: You are living the dream. When I was in the Cariboo, I bumped into an old prospector who had spent years prospecting Vancouver Island and areas to the north. He had some great adventures and stories.

 

[seascene]

Lanny - I look forward to your stories this winter. I did not get out to BC this year, so will have to live through you.

Seascene: You are living the dream. When I was in the Cariboo, I bumped into an old prospector who had spent years prospecting Vancouver Island and areas to the north. He had some great adventures and stories.

Thanks PlacerG... I used to live in Peterborough another life ago. There is adventure enough for all who seek it in this vast land... best of luck!

 

[Hoser John]

Lanny info requested sent pm-lots of luck/hope you enjoy-RESPECT as always-John

 

[delnorter]

Hi Lanny, it's great reading of your prospecting adventures again.

I have a couple questions about your detecting. You seem to be well pleased with your Gold Bug Pro detector. Do you use it much along streams (in a placer type environment)? What coil(s) do you find to be best on gold?

Thanks Lanny,
Mike

 

[Lanny in AB]

Lanny info requested sent pm-lots of luck/hope you enjoy-RESPECT as always-John

Thanks John,

I really appreciate your extra effort and tenacity in finding it.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi Lanny, it's great reading of your prospecting adventures again.

I have a couple questions about your detecting. You seem to be well pleased with your Gold Bug Pro detector. Do you use it much along streams (in a placer type environment)? What coil(s) do you find to be best on gold?

Thanks Lanny,
Mike

I spend a very limited amount of time detecting along placer streams, and much more time detecting in the mountains on slopes, flats, margins around old placer workings, around old hand-stacks, and within the confines of abandoned, more modern placer operations (always with permission, of course).

I use the 5 " round, DD for small areas, and I really love the 5X10 elliptical, DD coil. The 5X10 is the one I use the majority of the time. It covers more ground, and I'm surprised how sensitive the nose of the coil is. The little round coil serves its purpose though, and it has its uses, but I really don't use it very often.

After thoroughly hitting an area with the Bug Pro, I hit it with the big Minelab to see deeper and to overcome any mineralization or hot-rocks that may have masked signals for the little VLF.

Hope this helps, and all the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Just a note,

As I have no idea how long the warm weather interlude (between fall and winter here) will last, I've been out again stomping around the mountains (just got back yesterday), checking exposed bedrock, detecting the margins of old workings, etc., and I've found some more nice gold in the process.

It's amazing to me that I'm still out chasing the gold this late in the month of November, when usually by this time at this lattitude, my detector has been long packed away awaiting the return of spring with its warmer weather.

So, I've had the chance to learn a few more tricks, learn some more about by two primary detectors, the Gold Bug Pro and the Minelab 5000, and the different ways they like to find the gold.

Once I've found a patch in regular settings with the Bug Pro, I'll slow down and crank up the sensitivity as high as the mineralization will allow, then carefully cover the ground again, and it's remarkable how I'll find gold I couldn't hear the first time around, and I'll find smaller gold I missed as well. Then, I'll retool with the 5000, and slowly cover the same ground again with the Minelab and find yet again gold that escaped the first two passes. Sometimes it's not very much, but often enough it's worth the effort that now it's a standard part of my detecting process. Moreover, when I find a spot in bedrock where there's still channel material captured, I'll work the pick down taking out a layer of material at a time, detect and recover, then remove another layer as I work my way down, and so on, until I hit the bedrock underneath, then carefully scan the bedrock floor or any sidewall sections that may exist for any residual gold. Furthermore, if the underlying bedrock is soft, I'll work it down and scan again, or if it's friable bedrock, I'll rip out sections, then scan again, and this has produced nuggets that would still be there without the aforementioned techniques.

All the best to one and all that are still out there swinging the coils,

Lanny

 

[KevinInColorado]

...and swinging the shovels! We are similarly amazed at 9000 feet in the rockies. Digging in shirtsleeves right now! this was Jim just a couple days ago with me in Summit County Colorado

 

[Jeff95531]

Hey Kevin. I sent ya something. Should be there Thursday.

THU
rain snow
NOV 17
Rain to Snow
44° 23° 80% N 19 mph
Windchill Temperature: 9 °F(-13°C)

 

[Hoser John]

Nobody gets it all and more evidence to that fact. I have a set of friends who get numerous units to test and they ALWAYS do the same same as you did. Sometimes as many as 4 times with different mfg/coils and always seem to be some more there . I like cherry picked areas by GOOD detectorists who pick up there trash and NOT the fools who leave trash piles all over with metallic junk left to redistribute. Then after a rain viola conductivity increased and them vlf sing again. Coiltec has made some amazing coils and branching out brand wise . Tons a au 2 u 2 Lanny-John

 

[Lanny in AB]

Nobody gets it all and more evidence to that fact. I have a set of friends who get numerous units to test and they ALWAYS do the same same as you did. Sometimes as many as 4 times with different mfg/coils and always seem to be some more there . I like cherry picked areas by GOOD detectorists who pick up there trash and NOT the fools who leave trash piles all over with metallic junk left to redistribute. Then after a rain viola conductivity increased and them vlf sing again. Coiltec has made some amazing coils and branching out brand wise . Tons a au 2 u 2 Lanny-John

What you say about your friends speaks of wisdom garnered from careful experience, won through successes and failures, in the pursuit of elusive nuggets. I too switch coils for different working needs and purposes as I work through my various detecting cycles while clearing a patch. Moreover, I've come behind nugget shooters who've only cleared a patch with VLF's, and this has allowed me to capture gold their VLF's couldn't see in the mineralized soils or bedrock formations, and in a like manner, I've followed in the wake of others who didn't have VLF's or weren't outfitted with coils to see smaller gold, and I've rounded up gold they left behind as well.

Thanks for dropping in and leaving your perceptive comments, and all the best,

Lanny

I think if someone is serious about clearing ground, the advantages of different detecting technologies and coils should never be discounted, but warmly embraced instead. For example, one of the simple reasons for this is an area saturated with positive and negative rocks sounding off under the coils of VLF's; these annoying rocks will mask signals that another detecting technology will easily ignore, allowing that technology to see the gold that was formerly invisible due to the scatter and interference generated by the aforementioned rocks.

 

[delnorter]

Thank you Lanny (and John) for sharing your knowledge.

You know, I think my biggest obstacle to successful nugget shooting is taking a gold pan with me on what starts out as a detector outing. After not finding any gold detecting for an hour or two, I break out the pan. I can always get some color with the pan and the fever is soothed for a time.

Mike

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thank you Lanny (and John) for sharing your knowledge.

You know, I think my biggest obstacle to successful nugget shooting is taking a gold pan with me on what starts out as a detector outing. After not finding any gold detecting for an hour or two, I break out the pan. I can always get some color with the pan and the fever is soothed for a time.

Mike

Mike, been there many times on that same train of thought with the pan and done the same thing.

However, on a different note, I still take a pan whenever I'm detecting and there's some standing or running water nearby. If I'm rushed by fading light, or imminent, hard rain, I'll quickly gather non-ferrous signals (I use my super-magnet wand to quickly delete magnetic trash from the dirt going into the pan) and drop them into my plastic pan. That way, by using the pan to collect multiple targets, it saves a whack of time normally wasted sorting and extracting signals. Later, I'll head to the water and carefully pan the material in the pan to see what I've captured. I only do this rushed method when there's no other option, but it sure works as a time saver to maximize time on task.

To look at a different use for the pan, I'll also pack one when hunting exposed bedrock and there's the possibility of finding an enriched crevice or pocket that carries fine gold along with the nuggets. I've done this enough times to know it's worth it as my original prospecting buddy that's now well into his eighties taught me this trick years ago in the far north. We were finding nice nuggets running in bedrock crevices filled with a matrix, and he suggested we crush and pan the matrix from the crevices to see if there was any accompanying gold (His theory was that if we were finding nuggets in crevices and pockets, why wouldn't there be fine gold running with the nuggets as well? [At the time, the pulse machine with its coil would only detect nuggets match-head size and bigger.]) Well, since then, I've always tested surrounding material when I find a nugget in like conditions, and sometimes it's a real bonanza, other times, it's a big bust, but I'm still way ahead.

If I have a target area that's producing nuggets, and I'm rushed to a lesser degree by a departure or exit time in the mountains from a patch, I'll also incorporate the pan in the mix to save precious time. If there's no rush whatsoever, I'll use the normal method of sifting and sorting with a plastic scoop.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Hoser John]

Variety definitely adds some spice to life and sure helps to bolster the pocketbook and increase the fun also. If I pak in I always take my pans/sieves but when close to water the sluice sure makes a good friend too. Big or small I'll take it all. GREAT pics of compromise on SF Yuba thread with some mighty fine fines also in Prospecting forum. tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[Lanny in AB]

Variety definitely adds some spice to life and sure helps to bolster the pocketbook and increase the fun also. If I pak in I always take my pans/sieves but when close to water the sluice sure makes a good friend too. Big or small I'll take it all. GREAT pics of compromise on SF Yuba thread with some mighty fine fines also in Prospecting forum. tons a au 2 u 2-John

As usual John, you have some additional wisdom that makes a lot of sense.

We packed in a small sluice with a light-weight 4-stroke pump and ran some dirt we discovered in a bedrock crevice that was too narrow for the large motorized equipment of the former placer miners to excavate, but it sure had some nice pickers and small nuggets that we were able to recover in a hurry thanks to the light motor and the little sluice. The reason we packed the equipment in was because we'd got so many hits on small nuggets in that area with the detectors.

What you say is true, true, true.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[bc5391]

Hey Kevin. I sent ya something. Should be there Thursday.

THU
rain snow
NOV 17
Rain to Snow
44° 23° 80% N 19 mph
Windchill Temperature: 9 °F(-13°C)


View attachment 1381535

Wow is the frozen Moose real? I sure do not miss snow, havent been back to new England for 45 years.
Arizona is the place to be.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Warning! Christmas Prospecting Poetry.

Way out in the desert, a pokin’ around
Jake spied him a wash where gold might be found
The spot he selected, to stay for a spell,
Was mighty well hidden so no one could tell

That Jake was a lookin’ for gold way out there.
‘Cause Jake picked his spots with particular care,
As diggin’ for gold’s a right risky job
When bandits right sassy are lookin’ to rob.

Well things went quite smoothly for Jake and his mule.
Their life was plumb cozy camped close to that pool
Of water all clear, and cold in its tank,
A solid rock wonder, deep under the bank.

The pannin’ was better, the deeper Jake went.
The flakes were a growin’, he knew what it meant,
That deep in that wash, the bedrock would hold,
Bright nuggets of glorious deserty gold.

The bedrock he struck, at last with his pick,
And checkin’ the cracks he learned mighty quick
That deep in their clutches were nuggets right fat.
A fortune in gold! Well, how about that?

But grub was a wanin’, his coffee was done
So off for supplies found in town did he run.
And clever as always, he hid his dig site,
Then set off for town in the dark of the night.

But, bandits they’re clever, that’s how they get by
In town on the lookout, Jake’s mule they did spy,
And snoopin’ around at the stores in the place,
They figger’d that Jake bore a true stranger’s face.

And not only that, by the grub and supplies
That Jake was a buyin’, it opened their eyes!
And sypin’ on Jake for the rest of the day,
They noticed that gold for his goods he did pay.

Well, bandits are schemers, of that there’s no doubt.
When Jake left that night, they followed him out.
But trackin’ a man in the dark ain’t no fun;
And neither is knowin’ that man’s got a gun!

A big bore Sharps rifle was Jake’s constant friend.
In the war ‘tween the States, a means to an end
That taught Jake the value of such a fine gun
To send scum and rabble off quick on the run.

Come daybreak, our Jake was up on a rock,
Where quickly he let his Sharps do the talk!
That message delivered, no crook could ignore,
And turnin’ their tails, they wanted no more.

So Jake kept on diggin’, a storin’ his wealth.
But diggin’ was lonesome, a bane to his health.
A mule for a partner ain’t got a good feel!
A gal seemed more like it to sweeten the deal.

So off to the town Jake headed at night
To find him a bride to make his heart right.
By mornin’, he’d made it. Yet where would he look?
But, next Jake just saw her, a totin’ a book.

The town had a school, but needed a marm
And this one was pretty and loaded with charm.
So Jake moseyed over and said, “Howdy do?”
Well love at first sight, in their case was true!

For Jake was well-muscled, and tall with good looks
Like nothin’ the marm had seen in her books!
Out west she’d embarked to find her a man
And Jake was right perfect to fit with her plan.

The courtin’ was started that very same day
And things went so well, that Jake chose to stay
‘Cause he and his Jane were a wonderful match.
The town folks approved it, but there was a catch . . .

For bandits a bein’, the scum that they are,
They kidnapped fair Jane and hid her afar,
Then sent off right quickly a fat ransom note.
Well, here are the words those cold bandits wrote:

“Wal, Jake, we’ve a captured yor gorgeous girl Jane,
So pack up yer gold, and head for the plain
Where the ancient saguaro that leans can be found,
Or we’ll bury your gal mighty deep in the ground.

The bandits they’d chosen their spot with great care
As flat as a pancake, no place to hide there.
But what they forgot, or they never knew
Was Jake could a injun’, a hundred percent true!

Apaches had taught him their craft as a kid
And even their best couldn’t find where he hid.
So, Jake packed his mule up with fat sacks of gold
And left us this tale, which now must be told.

On that Christmas eve (the day I should say),
Jake worked out the method those bandits would pay.
They’d poked them a bear, of that they would know.
His gear gathered up, Jake set off pronto.

With lookin’ glass handy, Jake scouted the spot,
And while he was watchin’, he had him a thought.
To keep them a guessin’, he’d take a brief pause
And write out some wishin’ to Old Santy Clause.

“Well Santy, I’m sure you’ve heard of my woes
And since it’s soon Christmas, you know how it goes,
A feller gets wishes for that special day,
But I want just one, and here’s what I’ll say:

Just please fit within me the skill for the deed
To get back my Jane, that’s all that I’ll need.
Just one wish, I promise. That’s all, it will do.
Just help me to rescue my Jane I love true.”

So off through the desert Jake injun’d that day
To sneak to those bandits, to make them all pay.
Well, Jake set to crawlin’, for over a mile
His actions so stealthy, they’d sure make you smile.

His Sharps, it was with him, and so was his Colt.
But dynamite sticks, those he’d packed for a jolt.
He figger’d to use them on those tenderfeet.
Revenge would be his, and it would be sweet.

Jake crept in right close, so close he could see
His Jane in the shade of an ironwood tree.
Now Jake was a hidin' right there in plain sight
When he lit the fuse on that dynamite.

Those bodies were flyin’ right quick through the air!
The shock of the boomin’ was felt everywhere.
The ones that could make it, skedaddled right fast
To distance themselves from the next mighty blast.

So, Santy came through with his wish for our Jake
No wish in the world was better to make.
His woman all rescued, Jake held her with care,
Proposed to her marriage right quick then and there!

The wedding was grand, the town filled with joy.
The bandits were gone, no more to destroy.
Well Jake and his Jane, they knew what to do
And lived out their lives with a love that was true.

And if you’re a thinkin’ that this can’t be so
Far out in the desert one night you should go
To seek that saguaro, it's easily found
‘Cause ghosts sure are hauntin’ that section of ground.

All the best, and Merry Christmas,

Lanny

 

[Terry Soloman]

Wow!

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Just splendid Lanny!!!!! As I read through it I could not stop smiling. Will have to get Jo to look at it Friday night, she'll love it.

We look forward to your Christmas poetry each year... it matters to us... and you are such a wonderfully talented writer. Thankyou... holy cow... I didn't even have to ask you this year. And I had planned to do so.

Jim.

PS: Nothing arrived in the mail so far...